President
Joseph McDonald offered an invocation, and Lloyd Irvine welcomed
everyone to the SKC campus and thanked President McDonald for bringing
the campus into existence. He said every community needs to have a
community college for those who cannot attend the larger campuses.

Acting
Chair Mike Foster introduced Kala French, the newly appointed Student
Regent. He also welcomed Pam Joehler, the newest staff member at
the Office of the Commissioner. She replaces Laurie Neils.
Mr. Foster announced that Sue Hill has also retired and Kathy Crego from
UM is taking her place.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Regent
Hamilton MOVED for APPROVAL of the Minutes of the May 19-21, 2004
meeting in Great Falls/Havre, MT

The
Minutes were APPROVED unanimously on a 5-0 vote.

ACADEMIC/STUDENT AFFAIRS ITEMS

a.

Collaborative Radiologic
Technology - ITEM 123-1001-R0504 - Proposal to approve an AAS:
Radiologic Technology at The University of Montana – Missoula College of
Technology and an AAS: Radiologic Technology at the Montana Tech of The
University of Montana College of Technology as a collaborative program
SummaryProposal

Regent Semmens MOVED
for APPROVAL of Item a.

President
Dennison
explained the intent of this proposal is partly to be on-line, with
development by both campuses.It will decrease the cost of the courses.Provost Muir indicated they have been working for two years in pursuit
of accreditation and expect to have it in hand in a year or so.

Chancellor
Gilmore noted the community had requested Tech to offer this course.
Butte has a historical area that is in the process of being changed.
There is a lot of interest in the community for preservation of those sites.
Chancellor Gilmore said there are a limited number of positions for employment
in the field, but they will offer this for people who have an interest but are
not necessarily interested in employment. The program would run as a
cohort model for a limited number of years and then be cancelled, and would
not affect accreditation.

Item b. APPROVED unanimously on a 5-0 vote.

c.

Networking Technology - ITEM
123-1501-R0504 - Proposal to move the AAS degree in Networking Technology and
the Network Technician certificate from options under Computer Technology in
the COT Business Department to the COT Information Technology Department;
Montana Tech of The University of Montana Proposal

Regent Roehm MOVED for APPROVAL of Item c.

Item c. APPROVED unanimously on a 5-0 vote.

d.

Report from the Nursing
Coordinating Group

Regent
Roehm gave a summary of the written report which was attached to the Agenda.
He explained that the two proposals on this Agenda were already in process
before the new agreement between the Board of Regents and the State Board of
Nursing was put in place to coordinate their processes. Regent Foster
noted that the Montana Hospital Association survey, and the Helena clinical
survey are good examples of cooperation between community/business and the
MUS. Deputy Commissioner Barber indicated he had a format that might
help the campuses cover more details in their contracts with providers for
clinical slots. Regent Roehm reported a few issues affecting how many,
and what kind of nurses the system needs to produce are: 1) the high debt load
forcing students to leave for larger cities on graduation to pay the loans; 2)
some rural communities bring nurses in from the Philippines or Pakistan; and
3) demographic changes creating a need for more geriatric nurses than
maternity.

Regent
Foster noted there should be a clear message to the Montana Hospital
Association to continue to keep the Board of Regents informed on what they are
doing so they can make better decisions. Deputy Commissioner Barber
pointed to the $27,000,000 which health care facilities are paying to cover
their nursing shortages with traveling nurses, overtime pay, etc. He
also indicated there has been no discussion about the vacancy problem in the
rural critical care hospitals. Commissioner Stearns recommended the
Board consider the new committee structure and how this issue and teacher
education will fit under one of them. Superintendent Linda McCulloch
stated K-12 has also been most interested in the shortage of health care
workers. She indicated that HOSA has many chapters in rural Montana
areas and are being coordinated under a health specialist.

e.

Establish AS in Nursing - ITEM
122-1008-R0104 - Approval to convert the currently approved Associate of
Applied Science program in Practical Nursing to a Certificate Program in
Practical Nursing and establish an Associate of Science Degree leading to
licensure as a Registered Nurse; The University of Montana-Missoula College of
Technology SummaryProposal

Regent Roehm MOVED for APPROVAL of Item e.

Item e. APPROVED unanimously on a 5-0 vote as amended removing the tuition
surcharge and contingent on approval by the Montana Board of Nursing.

Item f. APPROVED unanimously on a 5-0 vote and contingent on approval by the
Montana Board of Nursing.

g.

University College - ITEM
123-2005-R0504 - Authorization to Reorganize Five University-wide Programs
into an Administrative Structure entitled University College; Montana State
University-Bozeman CoverSummaryProposal

Regent Roehm MOVED for APPROVAL of Item g.

Item g. APPROVED unanimously on a 5-0 vote.

h.

Treatment
of Childhood Trauma - ITEM 123-1010-R0504 - Authorization to establish the
Montana Center for the Investigation and Treatment of Childhood Trauma; The
University of Montana-Missoula SummaryProposal

Regent Semmens MOVED for APPROVAL of Item h.

This
program will train individuals to deal with post-traumatic stress syndrome at
school campuses. Additionally, graduate students will be provided with
research and field experience. After working through this program, a
member of the Cree Tribe will return to Rocky Boy to counsel students there.
The Blackfeet have also asked for training.

Item h. APPROVED unanimously on a 5-0 vote.

Following
a ten-minute break, the Board reconvened at 9:20 a.m.

Regent
Foster explained that the executive session scheduled for the previous day had
been delayed to the September 23-24, 2004 meeting due to the absence of
several Regents at this meeting.

Following a presentation of
these Resolutions, Regent Foster asked OCHE to respond to them at the
September 23-24, 2004 meeting. Commissioner Stearns indicated they would
respond to those that apply to them, but others are inappropriate for their
response. In response to a question from Regent Hamilton, Ms. Munson
indicated they intend to present these Resolutions to the Board of Public
Education at their next meeting, to obtain a response from them on the ones
that relate to BPE.

Over
the course of several meetings, all of the CEOs, on a rotating basis, will
have an opportunity to talk with the Board about important higher education
issues, trends and directions, and concerns related to their campuses.
The Commissioner will determine the rotation.

President
Dennison referred to the time and energy put into the budget initiatives by
people on the campuses and in the Commissioner’s office, and said that after
fourteen years of working with the legislature, not much has been
accomplished. During meetings in France and Germany, President Dennison
said it was quite clear they have the same issues. The British are ahead
in moving to find alternative revenue streams for higher education.
Previously, Europe had almost no tuition, but now does. He indicated
they call it the Americanization of education. President Dennison stated
that Australia is also charging tuition. Thirty to 35% of international
students paid full fees, which has kept them solvent. One British
institution developed a huge telescope for their students, and now markets the
telescopes to other universities. President Dennison indicated they must
argue to the legislature that the investment makes good sense, but he believes
they need to consider ways in which the institutions can become
self-sufficient. He recognizes that whatever the campuses want to
develop will need to come before the Board with a business plan for approval.
He has been in discussions with a private group about establishing campuses in
China. They can’t leave the country but they want education. The
privates need partners who provide degrees, and the campus also needs to go
for accreditation. This is a collaborative effort and UM will control
the curriculum, realize revenue, and create opportunities for students to
teach English and other courses. Another idea, which is not finalized,
is the development of a retirement community around the university.
President Dennison said it is being done elsewhere. They would market it
to alumni with an agreement that when they leave the property, they retain
some of the earnings, but the rest is left to the campus. He believes
that where they are able, they should do some of these innovative things, but
with careful oversight. He does not want to forget education and become
too far involved in capitalization. Regent Roehm suggested a
conversation with the Congressional Delegation to better identify the students
MUS is trying to bring in and to eliminate some of the barriers that have been
raised in the last couple of years.

Montana
State University-Billings

Chancellor
Sexton reported that on June 25th, the Foundation announced the first
comprehensive capital campaign for the campus. The goal is $21 million
and they now have $14 million in hand. The campaign kicked off when the
market was at the bottom. 36% of the campaign will go to endowments for
scholarships, 33% into capital projects, and 31% to college specific projects
for the colleges on campus to move forward. The campaign will be
completed by 2007 and they expect to exceed their goal. Chancellor
Sexton referred to Policy 223.1 on Honorary Degrees, which permits the two
doctoral granting institutions, MSU and UM to offer Honorary Doctorates.
He asked the Board if they would permit the other campuses to offer Honorary
Degrees including Doctorates. He believes it would be extremely helpful
to them, and he would like to have that opportunity available. He made a
second request to the Board in regard to the missions of the campuses.
He would like the Board to reconsider the allocation model for FY06 and 07 to
make modest allocations for research efforts on all of the campuses.
Chancellor Sexton believes that MSU-Billings could accomplish a lot of things.
Another concern the campuses have are certain state policies, more so than
Board policies, that inhibit doing business with the private sector.
Chancellor Sexton believes they should be reconsidered, especially considering
where the Shared Leadership initiatives will take MUS, particularly in
technology. He believes the MUS needs to partner with the private sector
to achieve greater efficiency at the least cost, but the current environment
does not permit it. Chancellor Sexton’s last suggestion regarded the
expectation from Shared Leadership that MUS will respond more proactively and
aggressively to the needs of the work force, and much more by the two-years.
He expressed doubt that any CoT has core equipment in its training programs
that isn’t ten to twelve years old. The system wants to provide
cutting edge training with antique equipment. He recommended a bonding
initiative for two years to bond capital improvements of perhaps $1.5 million.
He believes this would send the message to students and Montana businesses
that MUS also is willing to invest to improve the quality of work force
training.

Regent Semmens said he would
appreciate details on the policies that Chancellor Sexton thinks should be
addressed. He said the Board needs to realistically assess and communicate the
resources required to achieve the objectives of Shared Leadership, to ensure
that a gap doesn't develop between expectations and the ability to achieve
those expectations with the available resources. Regent Roehm recommended to the Commissioner the issue of
role and scope for the campuses, which were dropped during Restructuring.
He now hears a request to consider research at the four-year campuses, and
permission to award honorary degrees. He asked the Commissioner to
pursue the issue of the best use of allocated funds, and campuses pushing to
fulfill their own perspectives. He did not expect her to have this for
the September meeting, but when she was able to do so. Regent Hamilton
asked about allocations for research, since she understood that most research
was grant funded. She asked if the campus did not have funds to write
grants. Chancellor Sexton replied that all faculty are expected to do
research as part of their positions to stay on the cutting edge. MSU-Billings
is working with St. Vincents on research, and a grant will be developed
through Big Sky Economic Development. At the same time, with Shared
Leadership it would be appropriate for the Board to show their approval and
interest with this investment. Regent Foster suggested they could sit
down and flesh out their ideas on research. He also wanted to know what
policies Chancellor Sexton was referring to that create barriers to the MUS
working with the private sector.

The
University of Montana-Western

Interim
Chancellor Ulrich shared a handout on evolving strategies at UM-Western.
They want to stabilize and increase enrollment to about 1500 FTE. Fixed
costs will be spread over more students. The Experience One recruitment
has been going very well, and freshman applicants are up to 371 compared to
252 the previous year. Non-resident enrollment is up 71%. They
have a successful rodeo and other programs that draw these new students.
In FY05, all freshmen will go through the Experience One program. They
have had expanded communication with the community and campus on the
Experience One, with one on one discussions, and regular newsletters and there
is now only minimal opposition. The natural horsemanship program
received a lot of national attention in the horsemanship world. He
announced they have selected a new Chancellor from a very strong pool, Richard
Storey. He has more than 25 years working with block programming.
He will arrive on Sunday and will attend the meeting on July 19. Regent
Foster stated this was a terrific report on the success at UM-W. He
asked if the information had been shared with the community, and Chancellor
Ulrich indicated they have sent newsletters. Regent Semmens indicated it
would be welcome news in the community that the Experience One program shows
promise as a niche for The University of Montana-Western.

Commissioner Stearns reported that WICHE had offered funding to a team from
Montana to attend their workshop on recruitment and retainment strategies to
be held in Minneapolis. Regent Hamilton, Bruce Marks, Susan Patton from
MT Tech and the Commissioner will be attending on August 19 and 20.

Salish-Kootenai
College

President
Joe McDonald provided a handout prepared by Bob Peregoy. Their complete
IT curriculum is on-line and has great potential. One teacher lives on a
ranch in Medora and teaches from there, while another taught from Australia.
They have been reaccredited for ten years. President McDonald indicated
there is a balance that needs to be kept on commitment of resources, faculty
load, and relationships between foundations and the campuses. He said
there are seven tribal colleges and they are not exclusive but accept everyone
in their communities. SKC has 60 non-beneficiary students applying for
admission to the nursing program who will be turned away because of no space.
Some will apply elsewhere, and some will wait until next year to reapply.
The tribal colleges are required by law to maintain at least 51% native
students, and the last graduating class had 46% non-beneficiary students.
He requested the aid of the Board in obtaining funding from the Appropriations
Committee to cover the non-beneficiary students. He also reported that
Rene Dubay has visited all of the TRIO program participants and keeps them on
track. He noted there are 36 tribal colleges in the nation, the newest
being in Arizona. There is an organization covering the world scene on
indigenous peoples and they found that around the world, indigenous people are
in the same condition at Native Americans. He mentioned those groups
from Norway, Taiwan, Japan, Siberia, Australia and New Zealand.
Commissioner Stearns indicated that SKC and President McDonald are a national
treasure. He is Dean of the National Tribal Colleges, has honorary
degrees from both campuses, and as new tribal colleges are established across
the country, they turn to him for guidance. Regent Semmens thanked
President McDonald and his staff for the data they provided on non-beneficiary
students. He indicated the Budget Committee has endorsed this view and
will do what they can to help.

Flathead
Valley Community College

President
Jane Karas said that Flathead Valley Community College is a comprehensive AA,
AS, APS and certificate institution and many of their graduates transfer to
four-year institutions, including UCLA without loss of credits. They
also have partnerships with four-year campuses to share degrees, and therefore
can offer four-year and Master degrees. President Karas indicated that
as well as hosting the Elderhostel program, the campus also involves the high
schools in a program for students to take college courses, meeting monthly
with high school counselors. As part of the effort to provide programs
needed by local businesses, they now provide an HVAC program, as well as
partnering with the Department of Commerce to provide super host training.
FVCC has seen an enrollment growth of 27%, causing the need to rent temporary
storage, rent space from the hospital, and the implementation of interactive
TV, which was facilitated by Senator Burns. Commissioner Stearns asked
President Karas why she would have concerns if a college of technology would
call itself a community college. She replied the biggest issue is the
CoTs are offering what the community colleges offer. Further, Code and
Statute define a community college, with a different funding formula, and
there could be confusion in the local community who might think they have a
community college.

Office
of Public Instruction

Superintendent Linda McCulloch reported their top budget priority is Indian
Education for All which was mandated by the Legislature without funding.
All students must learn about the unique culture and heritage of Native
Americans. She wants to see the achievement gap closed, since Native
students test lower than white students, and almost 50% do not graduate from
high school. Last year K-12 was awarded $50,000 and they maximized every
dime of it. This subject cannot be one chapter in a book for one year.
Many students have never touched relics of the Indian culture, so OPI is
preparing a traveling display for hands-on training around the state.
Other states are looking at Montana to see how it implements Indian Education
for All. They will have a working summit on October 15 and 16 to create
a definitive plan of action.

Vice
Chair Mike Foster reported that Chairman Mercer had proposed four committees:
Budget and Audit Oversight, Academic/Student Affairs, Management, and
Workforce Development. He envisions the Regents would provide to him and
the Commissioner information about which committee would be of interest to
each of them, remembering to balance their time between this job, and their
other walks of life. Chair Mercer believes the Nursing Coordinating
group would fall under the Workforce Development Committee, and that Committee
would reach out and involve various industries, with the same arrangement for
the other committees.

Regent French MOVED for APPROVAL of Item a.

Regent
Hamilton said she had a number of concerns, but felt it was unfair to raise
issues with Chair Mercer being absent, and requested the help of the
Commissioner and staff. In reference to the Budget and Audit Oversight
Committee, Regent Hamilton indicated the Board has the responsibility to
determine what is delegated to Staff to do. Some of the items she
believes are more in the realm of management responsibilities. She said
most of her concerns are in the language. The same holds true for the
proposed Academic/Student Affairs Committee. Regent Roehm said the Board
should have general oversight, but many of the things outlined for the
Academic/Student Affairs Committee are functions of Management. He had
the same concerns with the proposed Management Committee, believing that
review of salaries, staff items and format were no problem, but the Board
should only have general oversight of bargaining by providing general
direction to Management. He felt Workforce Development was redundant.
Regent Semmens said they need to decide what really needs to be a standing
committee. He believes that the Management and Workforce Development
committees should be as needed. He suggested they could have two
standing committees, with the creation of subcommittees under those as needed.
Regent Semmens made one specific comment on the sixth bullet in the
Academic/Student Affairs Committee, which doesn’t make sense for the Board
to review all proposals since some don’t need a deep look. He said it
should not be the role of the Committee to approve or disapprove, but to
review and make recommendations on significant proposals. He supports
moving forward with standing committees but would rather err to the general
than the specific. He asked if they should defer this item to the
September, 2004 meeting and to visit with staff and Chairman Mercer between
now and then to address these issues. Vice Chair Foster indicated that
unless there were other comments, it would be wise for Regent French to
withdraw her motion and suggested that any Regent with concerns communicate
with each other and Chair Mercer. He urged them to use the time wisely
in communicating their needs, and then it would be taken up at the September
meeting. Commissioner Stearns said she would work with staff and the
Board to complete a draft document for the September meeting, which would have
a better chance of conclusion. Vice Chair Foster reminded the Regents to
consider which committees they wanted to serve.

Regent French WITHDREW her motion.

Regent
Roehm reminded the Board that two or three meetings ago, they had voted and
adopted the Academic/Student Affairs committee as he had proposed. His
point was that a lot of people had gone through it and he believed it would be
a good place to start although it didn’t venture into the management side.

Legal
Counsel LeRoy Schramm gave a brief background of this item. Following an
extended discussion of the pros and cons of all possible actions, Regent Roehm
made the following motion.

Regent Roehm MOVED to direct Chair Mercer and Commissioner Stearns to
arrange meetings as necessary with Senator Barkus and the PEPB to share the
memo from LeRoy Schramm in order to negotiate a settlement with the
Legislature.If it becomes clear
by the September meeting there will be no resolution, the Board may then seek
an opinion from the AG, or may proceed to litigation.

Regent
Hamilton said she appreciated the Board wanting to be measured in
their actions, but believes this is another stall tactic.The Board has the responsibility to make hard decisions and she will
vote against it.

Motion APPROVED on 4-1 vote with Regent Hamilton dissenting.

At
12:00 p.m., the Board recessed for lunch with student leadership followed by a
meeting with classified staff representatives.

The
Board reconvened at 1:30 p.m.

Vice
Chair Foster
announced that Regent Roehm was absent and excused for the balance of the
meeting.

Deputy Commissioner Roger
Barber told the Board they now had a possible definition of quality as
presented. Vice Chair Foster asked if Mr. Barber would provide the names
of the members of the Quality Committee and that people who see them can give
them input. Regent Semmens thanked Mr. Barber and the committee for
their work on this daunting task. He had a couple observations from
materials he had read that measure inputs compared to outputs. One is
graduation rates with an employer satisfaction survey. He also mentioned
access and affordability, as well as success with distance learning.
Regent Hamilton asked if the committee was considering the faculty aspect of
quality as far as preparation, accomplishments and publications. Deputy
Commissioner Barber indicated that at the suggestion of faculty members, they
had inserted the second bullet on innovative research, and the advancement of
a body of knowledge. Regent Semmens indicated Item 2 seemed to relate
entirely to the research institutions and said it seemed some could relate
more broadly to faculty that can’t be gauged by research and patents.
Regent Hamilton noted that students looking at campuses look at the caliber of
students they will be joining. She believes there should be something
included for admissions standards. President Dennison said scholarships
would be a good addition, which includes fiscal and intellectual resources.
He said there is also the economic capital. Another one to add would be
access to continuing education by Montanans. Dean Mary Moe noted that
creative endeavor was not included, nor were benchmarks for citizenry.
Commissioner Stearns indicated these were good additions, but she reminded the
Board when they first undertook this issue, the purpose was to ask the
legislature to provide more funding because quality was at risk. This
requires more clarity on what quality is – which could be internal or
external. She indicated there are a variety of people who are not versed
in the terminology used by the system. Commissioner Stearns believes it
must be shown to the legislature that if there is quality Montana as a whole benefits.
The final version of this item will be on the September 23-23, 2004 meeting
agenda.

Vice
Chair Foster provided an update from the joint meeting with the PEPB the day
before. Of the six suggested initiatives, the three that were settled on
were workforce training, access to post-secondary education, and distance
learning. This was not necessarily the order of priority. There
was also an unanimous vote on a resolution that calls for the legislature, MUS
and the Board to continue efforts to work more closely together on mutual
issues. Finally, there was unanimous agreement to continue the agreement
between PEPB, the Board of Regents and the MUS on the accountability goals and
reporting, and it will expire in January 2005. Commissioner Stearns
indicated that it was agreed the reporting would be biannually rather than
annually. Vice Chair Foster indicated this was the last meeting of the
PEPB this year, as they now go to the bigger committee, and then move to the
legislative session. Commissioner Stearns noted there will be mutual
discussions between Dave Gibson of the Governor’s Office, Bob Person in
OCHE, and herself almost immediately to focus on what would be the first item
for a committee bill, or which budget initiatives would fit and get them into
the appropriations process. They will continue to stay in close contact
with Eddye McClure. She mentioned that when Pam Joehler left the
Legislative division to work for OCHE, Alan Peura was hired as her
replacement. Regent Semmens asked if there would be legislation called
to move the initiatives forward, or if only three groups needed to endorse
these, the PEPB, Shared Leadership and the Board. Commissioner Stearns
indicated all this would happen, but since the Board will next meet after the
September 14 meeting of the committee for approval of bills, perhaps a
conference call meeting should be held beforehand. She also reported
they have begun a state tour of 15 cities for community meetings on Shared
Leadership. Included are legislators from the area, civic leaders,
business leaders, and local citizens. The meeting in Miles City competed
with a golf tournament, yet legislators came to ask questions. There has been
a positive response to this outreach.

President Dennison gave a
rundown on the Responses provided the Board, and indicated one change on page
7 of Attachment A. He will also provide an updated version of Attachment
F showing more detail. Pam Joehler gave a brief explanation of the
Responses from the Commissioner’s Office that were provided the Board.

President Gamble had said
before that the Athletics Fund would be balanced this year and would remain
balanced. However there have been stiff cost increases, which
outstripped those planned for in 2002, particularly the cost of health
benefits. Additionally, several decisions were made over the last year
that increased expenditures, a couple of those being safety and general
welfare issues. President Gamble indicated they have put more thought
into a long term plan, and there will be a small contingency reserve left when
they finally balance the budget. President Gamble indicated they learned
from the experience at UM, and found two items they had not been doing
themselves, but they have changed the procedures to do them in the future.
Regent Semmens asked if President Gamble was confident of booster support.
He replied he did have some concerns, and had the NCAA’s auditors come to
prove the theory. Regent Semmens noted there was a fivefold increase in
expenditures over five years. Vice Chair Foster indicated some of the
increased costs are out of the control of the campus, but others were caused
purely by a conscious decision on the part of the campus. He indicated
he would continue to have concerns where they make conscious decisions and
continue to have a deficit, and this being a sizeable deficit, asked President
Gamble to be cognizant of that as they move forward. He said if the
money isn’t there, they shouldn’t spend it as if it were. He
repeated they did not want to go through this same thing again.

Rod
Sundsted explained that this item is a component of the budget process.
He cited one change to the document for the UM-Missoula College of
Technology. The construction amount should be changed from $41.0M to
$24.5M.
President Dennison stated the Helena College of Technology received planning
money the last time around, but they now have been moved down the priority
list. In that context, he believes it will be important to think of bond
issues for the equipment as well as the buildings. President Dennison
said he saw no reason to believe the College of Technology requirements are
lower than other campuses.

Regent Hamilton MOVED
approval of Item d.

Regent
Semmens noted the pressing and real imminent building needs of the Colleges of
Technology, which on a positive note is good due to increased enrollment in
the two-years. However, Great Falls College of Technology is bursting at
the seams, and there are similar needs in Helena, Missoula, and Billings.
He asked if it made sense to work with Dave Gibson to advance two-year
campuses, and to propose a two-year education facilities and equipment
funding. The MUS has become a victim of its own success. Now there
is the need for resources to accommodate the needs of those facilities.
Regent Semmens asked if the Colleges of Technology could seek local mill
levies, or could obtain bonded authorizations at the local level. If
not, he suggested giving thought to some creative, locally based mechanism to
solve this issue. Vice Chair Foster believes it all goes hand in hand.
He indicated that in ongoing discussions with legislators and leaders this
needs to be in the discussion. He believes the Board needs to take the
time to explain to PEPB or other legislators and leaders so they understand
this is an important component of the whole picture. Commissioner
Stearns indicated this may be another item for Shared Leadership. She
indicated PEPB asked if the Board wanted anything drafted for a committee
bill. This did not necessarily mean they would support what was
presented. The Commissioner stated that the MUS has 60% of all the state
buildings in Montana. Maintenance is not only an MUS problem, but also a
statewide problem. Vice Chair Foster indicated that time is short until
the Executive Budget is put together, and the newly elected Governor will have
a little time to tweak it. This would behoove the Board to discuss the
issues of budgets with both candidates. Regent Semmens said he believed
both gubernatorial candidates are focused on the issue of need and opportunity
of two-year education in the state. Rather than throwing in the towel,
he believes they could package the budget in terms of the two-year education
facility and equipment needs being the result of the success of MUS in this
area. He said interest rates are at a historically low point, and the
bonds will go lower when the short-term interest rate is increased. Dean
Mary Moe stated that at the Great Falls College of Technology they have been
forced to do a lot of night classes, larger class sizes, and distance
education. She reported that faculty are suffering fatigue from the long
hours and heavy loads.

Item d. APPROVED unanimously on 4-0 vote.

Regent
Semmens requested the Commissioner and Rod Sundsted to give further thought to
the idea of a bonded program for the needs of the two-year campuses, and to
come back with ideas at the September 23-24, 2004 meeting.

Chief
Legal Counsel Leroy Schramm indicated the two previous items needed to be
amended from biannual to annual reporting since the Board had changed the
Policy in Item e.

Regent Hamilton MOVED approval of Item g.

Item
g. APPROVED unanimously on 4-0 vote.

h.

Joint Venture Format – ITEM
123-111-R0504 – Format to be used with Policy 407 - University
System/Employee Joint Ventures; Montana University System Form

Legal
Counsel LeRoy Schramm indicated the language at the beginning of the form had
been tightened up to protect confidential information or trade secrets which
might be protected by state or federal privacy laws. The form will
provide uniform reporting and will be placed as an appendix to the policy so
the campuses will have access to it. Anticipating that the form will be
modified over time, LeRoy Schramm asked the Board to endorse the form rather
than actually approving it so that changes would not have to be brought before
the Board.

Regent Hamilton MOVED to make the form an Administrative form

Regent Semmens MOVED Endorsement of this form for use with intellectual
property joint ventures

Regent
Semmens said that at some meeting before the Session, it would be helpful to
have a 45-minute session with Leroy Schramm, Tom McCoy and his people to get a
better understanding of this issue and what should be included in each
proposal. Perhaps it should include minimum royalties, milestones and
payments. He believes this issue will get increasing attention.
LeRoy Schramm indicated it was a good idea, as this policy was created in
response to legislation that mirrors the wording of the policy, and it is
appropriate for the Board to add more requirements if they so desire.

Motion
to Endorse APPROVED unanimously on 4-0 vote.

i.

Increase Authorization on
Skaggs Building – ITEM 124-1001-R0704 – Increase in Authorization for
Addition to Skaggs Building; The University of Montana-Missoula Attachment

Regent Semmens MOVED for APPROVAL of Item i.

Item
i. APPROVED unanimously on 4-0 vote.

j.

Increase Authority for
Chemistry/Biology Building - ITEM 124-1503-R0704 - Authorization to increase
spending authority previously granted by ITEM 118-1501-R0303 to renovate two
rooms (approximately 1700 sq. ft) in the Chemistry/Biology Building to
accommodate the interim home of the National Center for Health Care
Informatics; Montana Tech of The University of Montana Attachment

Regent Hamilton MOVED for APPROVAL of Item j.

Item
j. APPROVED unanimously on 4-0 vote.

k.

Name the Classroom
Building " Daniel G. Block Hall" - ITEM 124-1601-R0704 - Authorization to
Name the Office Classroom Building the Daniel G. Block Hall, The University of
Montana – Western

Regent Hamilton reported
that the SAF Board had asked staff to look at other opportunities or other
models to house the SAF, GSL and OCHE programs together, and after due
diligence have been unable to identify any possibility. In June, the SAF
Board voted to ask the Commissioner to work to secure other space for OCHE and
GSL. Regent Hamilton said the implications are for significant increases
in the cost of rent and utilities. Commissioner Stearns commented that
SAF owns the building and is out of space. OCHE and GSL lease from them
on very favorable terms. It will be necessary to alert the Budget
Office that there may not be such favorable rates in the future. She
reported that OCHE has also grown in terms of the numbers of people
administering grants. Rod Sundsted noted there are options outlined in his
memo. He said there needs to be a placeholder for more lease funds.
It will not be possible to find comparable to what OCHE is paying now.

Commissioner
Stearns noted corrections to Item b. on pages 8, 14 and 20. Vice
Chair Foster indicated Chair Mercer requested he convey his concerns on a
couple of increases – one for Charles Maes and one for Marie Porter.
He wanted to know where the money would come from. President Dennison
indicated those were interim increases for a short period of time while Wayne
Hogan was gone. Those salaries were returned to their original amounts.
The funds were from the departure of Wayne Hogan.

MCA
2-3-103. Public participation ...The agenda for a meeting, must include an
item allowing public comment on any public matter that is not on the agenda of
the meeting and that is within the jurisdiction of the agency conducting the
meeting. However, the agency may not take action on any matter discussed
unless specific notice of that matter is included on an agenda and public
comment has been allowed on that matter…

NO
PUBLIC INPUT

CONTINUATION OF
UNFINISHED ITEMS

Note:
Items not completed by the end of the meeting will be carried over to the next
regularly scheduled meeting.

President
Dennison provided the Board with Schedule A and Attachment F (updated) for the
Responses to the Athletic Panel. He will have a report at the November
18-19, 2004 meeting dealing with the issue of royalties.

DISCUSSION
WITH CAMPUS CEOs continued

President
Dennison handed out the latest Graduate Survey for The University of
Montana-Missoula.

Darrel
Hammon, President of Miles Community College reported that Jim Lucas was
selected as the distinguished alum at Miles Community College. He has
been involved for over 50 years with the college. President Hammon also
noted that they have exceptional athletes and MCC won the MONDAK four years in
a row, as well as the regional golf tournament this year and went to the
nationals in Arizona. One student took third in the nation. He
thanked Chancellor Sexton and MSU-Billings for the partnerships they have made
possible. MCC received funds from FIPSE to put together a program for
LPN to RN completion in Billings and Glendive. The first six graduate
this year and a full slate of ten enters this fall. They are limited to
ten by the Montana Board of Nursing. This fall they will deliver the
program to Glendive and Sidney with 32 slots. Miles Community College
also has partnerships with the high schools and colleges, the Eastern Montana
Health Network, and the Health Care Center in Sidney which helps with staff
and equipment. Without that aid, their programs could not go on.
MCC is also working with the UM College of Technology in Missoula to deliver
other health care programs for Eastern Montana. The majority of their
graduates are staying in Montana, and like Salish-Kootenai, they have a
waiting list for their programs. President Hammon indicated that close
to 40% of their graduates this year already had degrees. He noted that
all of Eastern Montana has a declining population. Their in-district
students pay $80 per credit whereas out-of-district students pay $100 per
credit. He also reported that the new dorms have been a great recruiting
tool. Dean Michaels of the School of Business Administration at
MSU-Billings called President Hammon to report that some of his best students
come from Miles Community College.

Terry
Hetrick, President of Dawson Community College updated the Board on two items.
There is no exact date yet, but they will have the groundbreaking ceremony in
the next couple of weeks. The contracts with the construction company
are not yet signed, but they will be passed to the Commissioner. A
contingent from DCC visited campuses and farmers to gauge interest in the Farm
and Ranch Management programs. In Plentywood, there were no applicants,
but there may be in spring. This week and next they are interviewing
applicants and hope to have three or four sites in operation. They
continue to contact ranchers and farmers to enroll. These programs make
a significant difference to farmers in dealing with current hurdles.
They are learning software for their everyday farm accounting. They have
enrolled over 70 people since fall of 2000, and after one semester, the
attrition is nearly zero. He indicated they will probably ask to expand
to another site or two next spring.

END DISCUSSION
WITH CAMPUS CEOs

Commissioner Stearns thanked
Bruce Marks and GSL for helping SKC to sponsor this meeting. She
mentioned some of her extensive travel around the state and what she had been
learning about the connection between research stations and value-added
agricultural production. In regard to term limits, she asked if anyone
on the campuses was doing research on the consequences as per a request from a
legislator. Cathy Conover indicated they are at Bozeman, and there may
be some follow-up studies. Commissioner Stearns congratulated George and
Jane Dennison on their 50th anniversary. Vice Chair Foster thanked Linda
McCulloch for attending the entire meeting, and he also thanked Joe McDonald
for hosting the Board at such a wonderful facility, and for providing unique
entertainment and hospitality.

With
no further business to come before the Board, the meeting adjourned at 9:35
a.m.